Criminal Lawyer Blog

Unclear how firearm marking will help solve crime

Toronto criminal lawyer Matthew Friedberg says Ottawa’s decision to delay its implementation of new regulations intended to help trace firearms is good as it isn’t clear how the new measures will help police solve crimes.

He says Canada should dispense with the plan altogether.

“It appears to be another layer of governmental bureaucracy that’s likely not going to serve its intended purpose,” he tells AdvocateDaily.com.

The federal government quietly published a note July 29 deferring the firearm-marking regulations until June 1, 2017 – the seventh time Ottawa has delayed the measures, says the Canadian Press.

The new regulations, first drafted in 2004 and previously scheduled to take effect Dec. 1, would require that specific, identifiable markings be stamped on firearms.

The plan would require domestically manufactured firearms to bear the name of the manufacturer, serial number and ‘Canada’ or ‘CA,’ while imported guns would have to carry the ‘Canada’ or ‘CA’ designation along with the last two digits of the year of import, says the wire service.